What to watch Friday: Breaking, Boxing and more track and field

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s tumultuous Paris Olympics run culminates Friday with a gold-medal bout, while gold medals will be awarded in track and field, beach volleyball, soccer and breaking as the 2024 Olympics begin to wind down.

Khelif fights for gold

Khelif will win either a gold or a silver medal when she fights Yang Liu of China in the final of the women’s welterweight division.

Winning a gold medal is what Khelif has said is the best response to the worldwide scrutiny she has faced over misconceptions about her gender since her first opponent of the Paris Games, Angela Carini of Italy, tearfully quit after just 46 seconds , saying she was in too much pain from Khelif’s punches.

Since then, Khelif and fellow Paris medalist Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei were thrust into a divide over gender identity and regulations in sports. Critics have brought up their disqualification from the world championships last year after the banned International Boxing Association claimed they failed unspecified eligibility tests for women’s competition.

Khelif has received support inside the arena as fans have cheered and chanted her name throughout her last two bouts in the 66-kilogram division.

With a win Friday, Khelif would secure Algeria’s first gold medal in women’s boxing. The fight starts at 10:51 p.m. CEST/4:51 p.m. EDT at Roland Garros.

Richardson leads U.S. women in 4×100 final

Paris Olympics 100-meter silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson will lead the U.S. women’s relay team in Friday’s 4×100-meter final. Richardson saved the American women with a her anchor leg in the opening heat after a bad exchange between 200-meter gold medalist Gabby Thomas and Twanisha Terry. The U.S. women won that heat, making them a favorite in the final that starts 7:30 p.m. CEST/ 1:30 p.m. EDT at the Stade de France.

The U.S. men’s team featuring 100-meter bronze medalist Fred Kerley cruised to a win in 37.47 seconds to advance, while Jamaica’s men surprisingly struggled with the baton and will not race in the final. That final starts 7:47 p.m. CEST/1:47 p.m. EDT.

Additionally, the women’s 400-meter final is scheduled for 8 p.m. CEST/2 p.m. EDT, followed by the men’s 400-meter hurdles at 9:45 p.m. CEST/3:45 p.m. EDT.

Men’s soccer gold medal match

France will face Spain in the final of the men’s soccer tournament, meaning there’ll be a European gold medalist at the Olympics for the first time in 32 years, when Spain was the champion at home at Barcelona 1992.

France’s only Olympic gold was at Los Angeles 1984. It also took silver when the Games were held in Paris in 1900.

Friday’s match starts at 6 p.m. CEST/12 p.m. EDT at Parc des Princes.

Also Friday, the women’s bronze-medal match between Spain and Germany will take place at Lyon Stadium at 3 p.m. CEST/9 a.m. EDT. The women’s tournament finishes with the gold-medal match between the U.S. and Brazil on Saturday.

U.S. women close to history in basketball

The U.S. women are two wins away from an unprecedented eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal. They’ll face Australia in the first of two semifinals at Bercy Arena, aiming to extend their Olympic winning streak to 60 straight games.

Australia has never beaten the U.S. in Olympic competition, losing in the gold medal games in 2000, ‘04 and ’08. The Opals also lost to the U.S. in the semifinals of the 1996 and 2012 Olympics.

The game starts 5:30 p.m. CEST/11:30 a.m. EDT.

France and Belgium will meet in the second semifinal in what should be an exciting environment. These teams have drawn some of the best crowds of the tournament. The game starts 9 p.m. CEST/3 p.m. EDT.

Beach volleyball

The women’s bronze-medal match starts at 9 p.m. CEST/3 p.m. EDT at Eiffel Tower Stadium, followed by the women’s gold-medal match at 10:30 p.m. CEST/4:30 p.m. EDT.

Breaking

Breaking ramps up with the b-girls bronze medal battle at 9:19 p.m. CEST/3:19 p.m. EDT at La Concorde, followed by the b-girls gold medal battle at 9:29 p.m. CEST/3:29 p.m. EDT.

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